Normal People’s Paul Mescal was once in an advert for sausages, and fans have only just found out

The 'Normal People' star played an Irish teenager whose sausage inspires him to travel the world

Normal People star Paul Mescal once starred in an advert for sausages, and it’s led to his fans seeing him in an entirely different light.

Mescal, who has shot to fame as brooding Connell in the BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s bestseller, made his acting debut in the advert, which screened across Irish television throughout 2018.

It sees him playing an ordinary Irish teenager who, upon eating a Denny sausage, is inspired to seize the day and travel the world.

But while it initially appears to have inspired him to head to Bali, he instead ends up travelling to the local County Mayo town of Ballyhaunis.

While Normal People marked the first time many viewers had seen Mescal, the Denny advert made him slightly recognisable to Irish audiences, who were thrown off upon watching the series.

“Genuinely cannot watch Normal People without thinking about the Ballyhaunis Denny sausages,” one viewer wrote on Twitter.

Another added: “The fella that plays Connell in Normal People was so familiar to me but now I realise he’s in the Denny ham ad for Bali/Ballyhaunis CRYIN.”

Others have suggested that only true Mescal fans know of his meaty origins.

“If you didn’t want Paul Mescal at his Denny sausages then you don’t deserve him at his Normal People,” read one tweet.

Speaking to The Independent, Mescal revealed that he had personal parallels to Connell’s trauma, and was nervous about portraying his depression on-screen.